Normally, I don’t delve into covering products that I’d have to rob a bank to afford unless it’s a luxury car, but the Bovet Récital 22 Grand Récital’s atrociously high price is something worth talking about because its half-a-million price tag isn’t the result of a luxury brand markup or because it uses rare earth metals and gemstones, but rather is because it puts half-a-million worth of effort, craftsmanship, and spectacularly intricate detailing that just makes its astronomical price justified. In an interview with Business Inside (video above) we learn exactly why the Récital 22 Grand Récital costs as much as it costs, and dare I say, it doesn’t sound over the top.
At first glance, you realize that the Récital 22 Grand Récital isn’t an ordinary watch. With a spectacular layout of elements that quite literally look out of this world, the Récital 22 Grand Récital is extraordinary to look at. The watch, says Jack Forster, is a result of a remarkable amount of labor, expertise, and sheer finesse. Each watch takes a considerable amount of time to make, given how complex its movements and parts are, and how intricate the detailing is. Limited to just 60 pieces, the watches are made one-by-one and rolled out or sold one at a time. The arduous process, along with the price of the quality materials that go into building the Récital 22 Grand Récital, accumulates to a value that’s half a million in worth.
The watch comes in two variants. One with a casing made from red gold, and another made from platinum. The use of precious metals only seems fitting for something that’s quite literally time-telling jewelry. The watch features a miniature hand-painted hemispherical representation of the earth as viewed from the north pole. The hemispheres are painted by expert artisans who bring out the translucent details of the clouds floating over the continents and the globe even uses special illuminating paint that brings the earth to life in the darkness, letting you see the outlines of the continents glow at night. This hemisphere detail rotates on its axis, much like the earth itself, completing a full 360° every 24 hours, along with a mini metallic moon that does its rounds around the earth, mimicking the exact position of the real moon as well as showcasing the moon’s phase on that given day of the month.
Underneath the earth lies the tourbillion, looking like the sun, and even going so far as to extend the metaphor to being a source of energy, just by the way it continuously turns. The position of the tourbillion in relation with the earth hemisphere accurately represents the way our planet earth faces the sun, making the watch face a miniature solar system in itself, with the earth, moon, and sun all playing their part. While this acts as a more visual indication of the time and date, the watch does have two subdials that tell the time on the front, and a perpetual calendar on the back, that not only tells you the day, date, and the month, but also has in itself the capability to account for leap-years, making the Récital 22 Grand Récital remarkably accurate and informative no matter what side you look at!
Quite like expensive supercars that show off high speeds, stellar builds, and noteworthy performances, the Récital 22 Grand Récital is a supercar equivalent of the watch world. With the amount of detail, artistry, craftsmanship, and time that goes into producing something that’s so visually striking and functionally par excellence, maybe the half-a-million price tag isn’t really an overestimation…
Designer: Bovet
Shaving at home isn’t always as comfortable as getting shaved at the barbers. You’re either crouched over your sink, or in your shower, running a blade amateurishly across your skin, cutting yourself and cursing your stars as your skin smarts under the influence of aftershave. Go to the barber and it’s a different experience. The barber wipes your chin with a warm cloth, before running the razor expertly across your jaw, periodically dipping it in warm water too, so that the blade is nice and toasty as it glides across your skin. The aftershave doesn’t sting as much either, because of the expert hand… however, there’s a trade secret to this experience. Heat.
As the heated towel rests against your skin, and the warm razor shaves your beard, the heat enhances the quality of your shave. It soothes and relaxes your skin, and even helps the blade glide through the stubble effortlessly. In keeping with Gillette’s tagline of offering man with quite literally the best, the Heated Razor mimics the barber experience. The razor comes with a state-of-the-art heating system built into it, and a strip right under the blades heats up to a comfortable temperature, warming your skin up before the blades glide above it. Pair this with Gillette’s world-class blades and you’ve got a shaving experience that doesn’t give you a remarkably close shave, but gives you a sensational, soothing shaving experience.
Gillette’s Heated Razor comes with a remarkable build. The handle has a great, ergonomic grip, and comes made from aluminum zinc, with a control button that lets you toggle the heating-strip as well as decide between two temperature settings that are indicated using a light-strip on the razor’s hand;e. Built with a lithium-ion battery inside, the razor comes with its own slick-looking dock that doubles as a Qi-enabled wireless charger that should keep your razor permanently juiced anytime you’re ready for a shave. The Heated Razor is built to be waterproof, so you can use it in your shower too for a shave that feels superiorly comfortable, and leaves you running your fingers across your smooth, warm jawline.
Designer: GilletteLabs
